Wearing a veil over her hair, Harmeet Kaur Dhillon gave a Sikh prayer on the stage at the opening night of the Republican National Convention. At the night’s close, Senate candidate Leora Levy, who is part of the leadership of the Republican Jewish Coalition, prayed for Jerusalem and “all the children of Abraham.”
But behind these two women, as they prayed, a giant wall of screens played images of crosses, churches, and the American flag. The message was clear: Non-Christians are allowed to pray here, but America is a Christian nation.
The contradictory aesthetic choice was indicative of the tone of the entire RNC so far, which has been defined by a mix of speakers and performers who have alternated between pandering to a traditional conservative base and gesturing at growing the Republican party.
Judaism — or at least antisemitism — received significant airtime. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s speech reminded the audience of her cross-examination of university presidents and touted Trump as the candidate to “bring back moral leadership” by “condemning antisemitism and standing strong with Israel and the Jewish people.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and Orthodox Jew who is now suing the university for antisemitism, spoke on Wednesday night, saying that “Jewish values are American values, and American values are Jewish values.” The Neutra family, whose son Omer is still a hostage in Gaza, led chants of “bring them home.”
But in between each stab at inclusion, there was Christian rhetoric: A group called the Praise Motivated Choir sang immediately before Kestenbaum and the Neutras spoke, and Rep. Tim Scott gave a quavering pulpit speech describing the United States as a place that “still believes in the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega.”
A Christian America, with or without Christianity
The Republican Party has long been defined by its association with the Evangelical Right and groups such as the Moral Majority. Sure, it has also been known for political ideas about small government and states’ rights, but its image was one of tradition: conservative Christian values; buzzwords like “pro-life” and “pro-family.”
This year’s RNC has muddled the traditional Christian messaging. The opening night featured Amber Rose , a former stripper, current OnlyFans creator and ex of hip-hop artists Wiz Khalifa and Ye — formerly known as Kanye West. Rose, who previously founded the Los Angeles chapter of SlutWalk, an annual feminist march, endorsed Trump, declaring that “ Donald Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re Black, white, gay or straight; it’s all love.”
On the third night of the convention, which featured speeches by Kestenbaum, the Neutra family and former Republican congressman Lee Zeldin, the crowd shook Israeli flags and cheered loudly when Israel was mentioned.
Marie Griffith, a professor of religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis, said she sees the surprisingly diverse slate of speakers as an attempt by the Republican party to expand the base and create a larger tent in order to win the election — to “throw some crumbs” to the LGBTQ community, as well as to non-Christians. The professor said she thinks that Trump’s campaign is confident enough that their Evangelical base isn’t going anywhere that they don’t need to pander to them — at least not as overtly.
But Christianity was still a big part of the convention.
Numerous speakers emphasized the importance of protecting religious freedoms — specifically those of teachers and doctors. While non-Christians might hear discussions of religious freedom as support for their own freedoms, many Evangelical viewers hear it as clear support for conservative Christian values. In the past few years, Republicans have used arguments about protecting religious freedom to support prayer and Christian bible education in public schools, ban books from public school libraries, and end abortion — and indeed the new GOP platform promises to put prayer and bible education in schools.
Others — including Kestenbaum — emphasized the importance of defending “Western civilization,” an idea often used by white nationalists to imply a white, Christian society.
“The Trump campaign, they want to reach out to the ‘good brown people’ and the ‘good Jews,’ and have people feel like they’re part of what they think of as a white Christian civilization,” said Griffith. “They’ll let a few outsiders in as long as they’ll be part of things.”
J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice presidential candidate, made this clear in his acceptance speech. “ It is part of that tradition, of course, that we welcome newcomers,” he said. “But when we allow newcomers into our American family, we allow them on our terms.”
“ We tend to use the word ‘dog whistle’ when it comes to racism,’” Griffith said. “I would make the same analogy here. There’s so many dog whistles that they hope the base will hear.”
Behind the scenes, Christianity has played an even larger role; Vance spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition breakfast during the convention, promising them that they would “have a seat at the table,” like “always,” and urging them to trust Trump’s record of conservative Christian policies, reassuring them about the seemingly socially liberal tone of the RNC.
And the RNC kept plenty of overt references to Christianity on stage as well. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is upfront about being a Christian nationalist — she’s even worn a T-shirt labeling herself a “Proud Christian Nationalist” — got a major speaking spot on the first night of the RNC, which she used to rail against Biden marking the Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday, and declare her opposition to “globalists.”
“They’re trying to wink wink to a lot of people,” Griffith said. “Be just Evangelical enough to keep those Evangelicals in the fold.”
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